The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.
In livestock industries, it is difficult to accurately identify a respective dam and sire for an offspring cost effectively. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to accurately determine the number of litter from a particular relationship cost effectively and/or accurately.
One method is to use different coloured “raddles” to identify the sire that mounted a dam. However this method only identifies the first sire that mounted the dam. If the first dam does not successfully conceive in the first oestrus, then a subsequent successful sire may not be determined.
An alternative method is to use a single sire to mate with a group of selected dams. However, this method severely limits the use of sires and also suffers from financial implications in terms of capital investment in infrastructure required to configure paddocks to suit the sire versus dam ratio.
A further method includes using DNA technology to determine the sire and dam for a respective offspring. However, the cost of testing animals on an ongoing basis is somewhat prohibitive, wherein each test can cost approximately at least $20 (AUS) depending on the accuracy required. Furthermore, tagging of the animals is still required in this situation for identification, adding further cost and labour to this method.
One manual method for determining a relationship between a dam and an offspring is to bring dams and offspring into small pens or areas, and have an individual watch the dams and offspring over a period of time to see which progeny stays with which dam. There are several variations to this method, though the basic activity remains consistent. When the offspring approaches a likely mother, the two animals are gathered and recorded. However, this manual method is time, labour and capital intensive. Furthermore, this method only results in determining the dam, which may not conclusively result in determining the all the offspring in the litter in all situations. This method also suffers from high levels of handling of animals, which can lead to high error rates in determining mothers to progeny. Additionally, this method also suffers from accurately determining twin progenies, as a first twin may take to the mother relatively quickly compared to a second twin.
This identifies a need for an accurate and cost effective method and apparatus which seeks to address, or at least ameliorate problems inherent to the above-disclosed methods and systems.